Help on SPST relay to connect light bar to high beams

[NDO]

I was thinking of wiring mine this way, but realized the auto dimming high beams might auto-dim based on reflected light with the extra lumens being thrown around. Has anyone tried running them in auto? Yeah, I know you can turn off the auto feature but would prefer not messing with it all the time.

On the other hand, if it works well without inadvertent feedback, it would be sweet when running on semi-remote dirt roads to be able to run the light bar but have it auto-dim if encountering a rare oncoming car.

 

[gneissday]

I was thinking of wiring mine this way, but realized the auto dimming high beams might auto-dim based on reflected light with the extra lumens being thrown around. Has anyone tried running them in auto? Yeah, I know you can turn off the auto feature but would prefer not messing with it all the time.

On the other hand, if it works well without inadvertent feedback, it would be sweet when running on semi-remote dirt roads to be able to run the light bar but have it auto-dim if encountering a rare oncoming car.

I have an 802A w/out the tech pkg, so this doesn't apply to my truck. But, I'm sure many w/that pkg would like to hear how it works out. Please keep us posted if you try it and where you decided to tap into the high beams. Thanks.

 

[GrdnFrmn]

I was thinking of wiring mine this way, but realized the auto dimming high beams might auto-dim based on reflected light with the extra lumens being thrown around. Has anyone tried running them in auto? Yeah, I know you can turn off the auto feature but would prefer not messing with it all the time.

On the other hand, if it works well without inadvertent feedback, it would be sweet when running on semi-remote dirt roads to be able to run the light bar but have it auto-dim if encountering a rare oncoming car.

I have the tech package with autodimming and have some concern as well. I plan to use two upfitter switches. One will control the lights on/off directly. The second upfitter switch will send power to a relay, with the relay trigger slaved to the hi beam (if I can find a good place to tap the hi beam circuit, anyway).

The reason is so I can control all the lights with the high beam stalk switch and not need to take a hand off the wheel or eyes off the road to reach up and flip Aux toggles. That way, the auto dim won't light up everything unless I've powered the relay with the upfitter: turn off the auto dim feature and turn on the upfitter. That's the plan, at least. We'll see how it works out.

 

[NDO]

I have the tech package with autodimming and have some concern as well. I plan to use two upfitter switches. One will control the lights on/off directly. The second upfitter switch will send power to a relay, with the relay trigger slaved to the hi beam (if I can find a good place to tap the hi beam circuit, anyway).

The reason is so I can control all the lights with the high beam stalk switch and not need to take a hand off the wheel or eyes off the road to reach up and flip Aux toggles. That way, the auto dim won't light up everything unless I've powered the relay with the upfitter: turn off the auto dim feature and turn on the upfitter. That's the plan, at least. We'll see how it works out.

Good idea- I don't plan on using all the upfitter switches anyway.

 

[NDO]

Hey, another question for those who have set up with relays. Are you mounting the relays solidly somewhere (and if so, where) or just using a wire tie to secure them to the bundle of wires?

 

[NDO]

Bump to see if anyone has an answer on mounting relays.

Also wondering if someone has identified the best place to access the high beam wiring to trigger a relay.

Thanks!

 

[gneissday]

Bump to see if anyone has an answer on mounting relays.

Also wondering if someone has identified the best place to access the high beam wiring to trigger a relay.

Thanks!

I just logged in to update this thread. I installed my relays today. Everything went great and works perfect. Now if my Aux 1&2 switches are on and I flash or turn on my high beams, my light bars turn on. This is so convenient to be able to turn on/off your off road lights this way! And of course you can leave them off, too. Just don't power them w/the aux switches.

So here's the info: The easiest tap I found was on the drivers side light harness where it plugs into the headlight assembly. It's easy to get to by just taking off the intake that hooks to the top of the front grill. Just two little plastic clips and an 8mm screw that holds the intake to the air filter housing. Once that's removed it's easy to access and unclip the harness from the front light assembly. And there's plenty of room to work. I thought the passenger side light harness was not easy to reach because of the battery and washer fluid reservoir.

Using a multi-meter I determined the gray w/orange stripe wire is the high beam hot wire (the one I'm pointing to with the probe tip - see pics). I tied into that line w/an 8 foot length 16 gauge wire (but I think 18 gauge would have been better- 16 was a bit too thick- but it worked). I ran the wire along the top of the grill (under that plastic cover that you can remove by removing all those plastic clips). This single wire is being used to trigger both of my relays.

I tied in all the wires for power and grounds, tested, then thoroughly wrapped all the crimps in electrical tape. The two relays are sitting on the plastic tray by the battery (see pics).

Hope this helps anyone considering doing this. It really was a very easy project that adds a lot of convenience. Have fun!

 

[matt33]

I just logged in to update this thread. I installed my relays today. Everything went great and works perfect. Now if my Aux 1&2 switches are on and I flash or turn on my high beams, my light bars turn on. This is so convenient to be able to turn on your off road lights this way! And of course you can leave them off, too. Just don't power them w/the aux switches.

So here's the info: The easiest tap I found was on the drivers side light harness where it plugs into the headlight assembly. It's easy to get to by just taking off the intake that hooks to the top of the front grill. Just two little plastic clips and an 8mm screw that holds the intake to the air filter housing. Once that's removed it's easy to access and unclip the harness from the front light assembly. And there's plenty of room to work. I thought the passenger side light harness was not easy to reach because of the battery and washer fluid reservoir.

Using a multi-meter I determined the gray w/orange stripe wire is the high beam hot wire (the one I'm pointing to with the probe tip - see pics). I tied into that line w/an 8 foot length 16 gauge wire (but I think 18 gauge would have been better- 16 was a bit too thick- but it worked). I ran the wire along the top of the grill (under that plastic cover that you can remove by removing all those plastic clips). This single wire is being used to trigger both of my relays.

I tied in all the wires for power and grounds, tested, then thoroughly wrapped all the crimps in electrical tape. The two relays are sitting on the plastic tray by the battery (see pics).

Hope this helps anyone considering doing this. It really was a very easy project that adds a lot of convenience. Have fun!

Thanks for writing all of this up. In the past, I have wired off road lights as you described with the relay to be triggered by the OEM highbeams and also stand alone to be used exclusively with the upfitter switches. Having run both, I much prefer your setup using the highbeams to trigger the off road light relay so that all lights can be controlled activated and deactivated instantly with just the factory highbeam trigger.

I live in a very rural area with a lot of deer and other wildlife, so when I'm on desolate roads, I sometimes use my LED off road lights. However, because it's so mountainous and curvy, another car can occasionally surprise me. It sucks fumbling with multiple switches in a hurry.

I plan to order the Baja Designs Pro lights for my bumper cut outs pretty soon. Thanks again for the detailed instructions.

 

[NDO]

Thanks! That's great, appreciate the pics and info. Can't wait to get my truck so I can start to tinker.

 

[GrdnFrmn]

I just logged in to update this thread. I installed my relays today. Everything went great and works perfect. Now if my Aux 1&2 switches are on and I flash or turn on my high beams, my light bars turn on. This is so convenient to be able to turn on/off your off road lights this way! And of course you can leave them off, too. Just don't power them w/the aux switches.

So here's the info: The easiest tap I found was on the drivers side light harness where it plugs into the headlight assembly. It's easy to get to by just taking off the intake that hooks to the top of the front grill. Just two little plastic clips and an 8mm screw that holds the intake to the air filter housing. Once that's removed it's easy to access and unclip the harness from the front light assembly. And there's plenty of room to work. I thought the passenger side light harness was not easy to reach because of the battery and washer fluid reservoir.

Using a multi-meter I determined the gray w/orange stripe wire is the high beam hot wire (the one I'm pointing to with the probe tip - see pics). I tied into that line w/an 8 foot length 16 gauge wire (but I think 18 gauge would have been better- 16 was a bit too thick- but it worked). I ran the wire along the top of the grill (under that plastic cover that you can remove by removing all those plastic clips). This single wire is being used to trigger both of my relays.

I tied in all the wires for power and grounds, tested, then thoroughly wrapped all the crimps in electrical tape. The two relays are sitting on the plastic tray by the battery (see pics).

Hope this helps anyone considering doing this. It really was a very easy project that adds a lot of convenience. Have fun!

Just starting my install this week. Great info, thanks.